The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
by Lunatic
Summary: When Jack 'commandeers' a new ship on sea he gains something more than only a ship.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, I just like to play with the characters_

Summary: When Jack 'commandeers' a new ship on sea he gains something more than only a ship.

Title comes from an etching by Goya with the same title

As always, wonderfully beta'd by Anamaria Sparrow

**The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters**

Chapter 1  

"Everybody stay calm, we're taking over this ship!" Jack grinned happily, while letting the captain of the just captured ship look down the barrel of his gun. The captain fumed, but realized just as well that he couldn't do a thing against it.

"Mr. Gibbs, ye know what te do!"

"Aye, Capt'n," Gibbs also grinned cheerfully. Taking over this ship had been one of the easiest jobs they had ever done during their lives as pirates. It almost looked as if the crew of this ship _wanted_ to be captured.

"Alright,mateys. We'll give ye the choice. Ye can join yer capt'n and sail with yer ship to the nearest port or ye can join _our_ capt'n and become a proper freedom chaser. Choice is all yers, but make up yer mind quickly cause we 'aven't got all day!"

To Gibbs big surprise every singly member of this crew made clear that they wanted to join the crew of _the Black Pearl_, something that had never happened before. Normally maybe one or two decided to try their luck at 'freedom chasing' and that was it. Never before an entire crew.

"Aye, cap? Can I talk to ye for a sec?" Jack exchanged a look with his good friend Joshamee Gibbs and nodded to Anamaria, who took care of the defeated captain.

"What's wrong, Josh? Got problems with the crew?"

"Sort of, lad. They all want to join us."

"They _all_??? Bloody hell! What kind of captain is that then, that he scares away 'is entire crew…" Deep in thought Jack allowed his fingers follow the lines of his small beard. "Well… then we take over this ship entirely. I can't use them all on me ship and I can't force them onto land either, can I?"

Gibbs didn't look convinced. "There's something not right about this, cap…"

"Aye… but we can't stay 'ere fer too long to find out wha's wrong, can we? Don't want to run into tha' bloody Royal Navy."

Jack turned and started to yell orders. "Marty, Jacob, Roland, Edward, Ishmael and Juan, ye are going te stay on this ship and sail behind me _Pearl._ Gibbs, ye are going to be their captain and choose yerself a first-mate, aye?" Without waiting for a response from the called men he turned to his new addition of his crew. "Ye and ye, and ye red-head… and tha' black haired fellow over there and tha' little one, ye are gonna stay on this ship and sail under his command," Jack pointed at Gibbs, "the others are going to move to me ship and listen to me orders, savvy?" Again he doesn't wait for a response. "You, Captain," he walked to the defeated captain, "Sorry, mate, bu' I can't bring ye back to te dry land with yer ship… take one of these," Jack pointed at one of the save boats, "and go in tha' direction," he points north. "There ye will find in about two hours land were they can help ye find yer pride back, aye?"

He looked around and still saw all the men staring at him. "Ye scoundrels! Get te work!"

"Jack?" Anamaria carefully approached him.

"Captain, luv, Captain. Especially now in front of these new fine gentlemen."

Ana rolled her eyes. "Aye, _Captain_. We have another problem." She pointed a corner on the main deck. Sitting there on the ground was a very skinny girl. Her skin was white and so were her clothes. She has long, thin, brown hair that danced in the wind and she was staring with big hollow eyes to the world around her. Especially Cotton's bird is followed with great interest.

"Wa's wrong with her?" Jack muttered.

"Don't know, Jack. She didn't say a word, when asked."

Jack sank to his knees next to the girl and tried to attract her attention, but it was no use. Suddenly her way too skinny arms flew in the air as if she wanted to grasp something that was dangling above her. However, nothing could be seen there.

"Aye, mate!" Jack yelled to the defeated captain. "Come here."

The captain ignored Jack, but that was not the smartest move he made that day. Quicker than thought possible Jack pointed his pistol at the captain and shot, leaving a perfect small bullet hole just in front of the captain's feet.

"The next one is in yer knee, mate," Jack kindly informed the paled men. "Now come here."

Slowly the captain walked back and looked with a snarl on his face down on the skinny girl and Jack, who was still kneeling next to her.

"Who is this?" Jack demanded.

First the captain murmured something, but after he had received a dark look from Jack he spoke more clearly. "A passenger, Sparrow!" he spat. "And all yours now! She's insane, _bloody insane_! So that would fit right into your street, don't you think!" The captain's voice had become louder as he continued. "You would make quite the couple with her, Sparrow. You've always seemed to like the very young, I've heard, you _maniac_. You ---"

Then the captain found himself pushed with his back against the railing, a pistol pointed at his head and two flaming eyes inches from his face.

"What did ye just say, mate?" Jack asked calmly, although his eyes told a whole different story.

The captain swallowed hard, before he spoke again. "Nothing, Sparrow," he managed to say arrogantly.

"Good mate. Now disappear from me eyes before I do something I will regret!" With that he pushed the captain away from him as if it's something disgusting and turned back to the girl on the ground. "Bring her to me ship."

"But, but Jack?" Ana said.

"Bring her to me ship, _Ana_! I'm not going te tell ye again. And it's _still_ captain, as if ye would know after I told ye so many times!" Ana knew far better than to argue with her captain on this moment, when he was clearly in a bad mood. When Jack turned around and saw the whole crowd that had gathered around him, only the dark look in his eyes was enough to make them all move in a hurry.

---

A couple of hours later it became dark already and everything was settled. Gibbs was captain of the new ship, _the Veritas_ and sailed behind _the Pearl_. The new crews were settled down as well and Jack was standing on the helm, staring over the dark ocean. Anamaria had just made her round on the ship, being the watch for that night.

"Jack?" she whispered softly, not sure if she was allowed to disturb his thoughts at the moment.

"Aye, luv," Jack answered with a small sigh. "Wha's on yer heart?"

"Tha- that girl? Were did ye put here?"

"In me cabin, luv." Jack turned around to face Ana. "Couldn't let 'er sleep with me crew, aye? And I couldn't ask ye to let her sleep in yer cabin, since it's already to small for yer liking," Jack stopped Ana from interrupting with a wave from his hands. "So I let 'er sleep in me bed. I 'ave a large cabin… as you _could_ 'ave known." he added as an after thought. "And I can sleep on the ground. 'ave slept on worse places than tha'."

"But she…?"

"What, luv?"

"Will the men not talk?"

Jack grinned sadly. "They always do, luv. Ye should know tha' better than anyone else."

"I do."

"Good, luv. I'm off te bed, if ye don't mind." He flashed his grin and left for his cabin, leaving Anamaria standing on the helm, gazing at the ocean in front of her.

She didn't think she liked that girl at all.


	2. Chapter 2

_Very big thank you to my beta Anamaria Sparrow, who always has an encouraging word and a joke ready :)_

Chapter 2

Jack couldn't sleep. He was lying in the corner nearest to the door on the wooden ground with only one rough sheet on his bare chest. He had not lied when he told Anamaria that he had slept on worse places that this, but the only thing he seemed to be able to do this night was changing positions on the ground. And staring at his own bed with the girl in it. He didn't even know her name yet! He should ask that to the old crew tomorrow, probably some of them would know a bit more about this mysterious young female.

Jack shook his head. The girl looked as if she hadn't had a proper meal for months, and remembering the captain Jack wasn't really surprised if that would be true. He was going to make certain that she would get enough, even if that meant that he should go on a small diet for that.

Suddenly the girl on his bed attracted his attention. He heard a soft moan coming out of the bed and suddenly the girl is sitting widely awake, with two big eyes of fear. Maybe she had a nightmare? Jack almost immediately felt sorry for the girl, who looked utterly confused around her, obviously having no idea were she was. Carefully not to scare the girl Jack got on his feet and sat down on a corner of his bed, grinning at her. 

"Don't worry, luv. Yer safe. Yer on me _Black Pearl,_" he said softly. For the first time the girl actually looked at him. He didn't remember that she had done so back on deck. To think of it, he couldn't remember her looking at anyone except Cotton's blasted bird.

"Hello, luv. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, remember?" for a short moment Jack was painfully reminded of the nights when he was younger and his little sisters had been scared. At that time he had been a big brother, who -according to his little sisters- wasn't afraid of anything at all and was a safe harbor in a wild ocean. A lot had changed since then, but Jack still could easily recognize a terrified female when he saw one.

"Do ye want te hear a story, luv?" That had always helped with his younger sisters. The girl's eyes travel over Jack's face and then watched with great interest the trinkets in his hair. Jack couldn't remember the last time he had taken them off; they belonged to him just as much as his fingers did. "A story?" The girl's eyes meet Jack's and suddenly Jack found himself with his hands filled with trembling young girl, who has crawled on his lap and made herself comfortable with her head under his chin, one ear pressed to his chest so that she can hear to comfortable sound of his heart. "I'll take tha' as a yes then, luv," Jack said with a small smile while he made himself a little bit more comfortable, resting his back against the wall.

"Once upon a time there was a wizard whose name was Dementotrix. Dementotrix was always in a very bad mood, especially because 'e was always wearing shoes tha' were too small. Dementotrix had forgotten the spell te make 'is shoes any bigger and therefore 'e was always cursing everyone who stood in 'is way. Once 'e had even turned the princess of the country he was living into a toad! The prince who had in mind te marry the princess didn' like tha' much, since 'e didn't felt like kissing a toad. So the fool decided to challenge the dark wizard. Dementotrix only got annoyed by this young fellow and turned 'im into a toad as well. This wa' a mistake cause so the two toads could still live happily ever after and Dementotrix couldn't stan' happiness around him. He exploded with anger and then a pirate came and took over the country and become very rich and happy…" Jack stopped, suddenly very much doubting that the story actually went like this. Then he shrugged, he _did_ like it a lot more this way!

According to the soft breathing of the girl in his arms she has fallen asleep during his little story and Jack smiled. His stories always seemed to have that same effect and he still wasn't entirely sure if he should be happy about that or not. But he didn't have long to think about that, because soon he started to get sleepy as well and maybe 5 minutes after his story was finished Jack also fell fast asleep.

Therefore Jack was also completely unaware that after a while Anamaria softly peeked inside from behind the door and how her face darkened when she saw Jack with the girl in his arms, both fast asleep. No, she didn't like this young female at all!

---

"G'd morning, Ana!" said Jack cheerfully the next morning. He had slept wonderfully and when he had awoken he had carefully lain the girl down on his bed, covering her with some sheets and then got fully dressed. The thoughts of the big success of yesterday and the new ship that was sailing behind his _Pearl_ had only improved his already good mood. However, Anamaria was making a point of ruining the good atmosphere, since she only muttered a reply.

"Are ye alright, luv? Ye sound a bit grumpy?" A wiser man should have told Jack that he'd better left Ana alone right now, but Jack had always had a blind spot for this certain female pirate.

"No," she muttered, not wanting to explain herself any further. Jack shrugged. He had some other problems in mind rather than to bother about his grumpy first-mate.

"Aye, mate!" he called to one of his new crewmembers. "Come 'ere."

After a nervous glance to his mates the new crewmember approached Jack, obviously nervous about what the pirate was about to do. Jack grinned at him.

"Mate… I wondered if ye could help me out on something. That lass I found on yer deck yesterday… Who is she?"

The crewmember blinked, not expecting this question in the least. "D-didn't Morenda tell you?"

This time it was Jack who blinked. "Morenda?"

"The captain?"

"No, mate. Didn't really ask 'im about it either. Didn't like the fellow much, ye see…"

The crewmember moved a bit closer to Jack and carefully looked around him, as if he was about to let Jack in on a huge secret.

"Morenda told us… He told us she was a witch!" Again the crewmember looked around, as if he was afraid that the girl would bewitch him right there on the spot.

Jack raised his eyebrow. He had spent too long on sea already to be afraid of witches, especially when they were presented in the form of a fragile and scared girl.

"I see," he said, clearly not convinced. "And wha's the name of this… witch?"

The crewmember gaped at Jack. "I don't know," he said after a short while.

"_You_ don't know," Jack seriously started to wonder what a bunch of idiots he had taken under his care now. If you didn't even know the name of a fellow passenger! "And what is yer name, matey?"

"I-I'm Michael Bardon, sir."

Jack suppressed the urge to look behind him to see if there stood a 'sir' and instead of that he only bent a bit closer to Michael. 

"Aye, Michael… and is there any chance one of yer lovely friends know the name of this girl."

Quickly Michael shook his head. "No, sir. The old captain never told us."

Jack slowly nodded. "Ye can get back te work, Michael."

"Aye, sir!" Michael turned already to make a run back to his friends, when Jack grasped his shoulder.

"It's captain, mate. Not sir."

"Aye… captain!"

Jack stared in wonder at the running form of Michael. Was he really that scary? He turned to ask Anamaria's opinion on this matter, but one look on her face told him -for once- better. Her gaze was fixed on the door of his cabin and she didn't seem aware at all, what was going on in the world around her. Jack shrugged, he didn't think he would ever truly be able to understand women.

"Scuse me, luv," he said while he walked past her, entering his own cabin and closing the door carefully behind him. He listened for a couple of minutes behind his door if Ana might come nearer, but he didn't hear such sound.

The girl in his bed was still lying down, only no longer asleep. Totally unaware of the fact that Jack had entered the cabin, she was staring in front of her.

"Luv?" Jack tried to attract her attention, but when that didn't help he seated himself right in front of her, so that she had to look at him.

"'Ello puppet," he whispered gently. Maybe he should try a different language?

"Bonjour petite?" No reply.

After having tried German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian he gave up.

"Yer not really helping me out here, luv," he muttered. "Almost start te think those idiots on me ship are right after all. However, Captain Jack Sparrow doesn't believe that yer a witch. If ye were, yer not taking really good care of yerself."

A soft knock on the door and Ana's voice called. "Jack?"

"Captain, luv," he muttered softly, but than replied. "Aye?"

"Who are you talking too?"

Jack sighed in frustration. Sometimes Ana really could ask stupid questions. "I'm talking to the devil, luv, trying to figure out how much profit I will get if I sell him me soul!"

"Jack!" Ana called clearly annoyed.

"Who do ye think I'm talking with, Ana? The Devil and the Holy Spirit aren't the right answers… now guess again?"

"She… she doesn't talk. The men say… she's a witch."

"Aye, and of course ye believe their stories right? Well, maybe I wasn't so wrong then to say I was talking with te devil." With that Jack, who had slowly walked to the door of his cabin, threw open his door almost knocking Ana off of her feet.

"What fer the devil do ye think yer doing, luv? I thought ye were wiser than tha'."

Ana looked with great interest to the ground, after she had peeked behind Jack's back to see where the girl was.

"I wish… I-I'm only…" she whispered softly.

"What, luv?"

"Worried bout you."

"Well, luv, I appreciate the thought, but methinks I'm ol' enough te do stupid things all by me onesies. Don't really think I need yer help with tha'. Now if ye will excuse me…. I have a devil te handle!" With that he turned on his heels, leaving Ana stunned on deck. Jack had never talked to her this way before. _Ever._

Maybe the girl had him already under her spell…

__

_

* * *

_

_I am not sure how soon I will be able to update this again, since I will be on holiday to Greece from July 9 til 17._

_Pigwidgeon - LOL! I'm going to need some good luck, since I have no idea were this story will going to lead just yet ;)_

_Kungfuchick - Well… about the girl being crazy or possessed… you have to find that out yourself. And about that 'thing'. There will be a 'thing' with some characters in this story, but I have not decided who I will hook up with each other :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Wonderfully beta'd by Rachael_

Chapter 3

Ana was staring at the ship _the Veritas_ that now was following _the Pearl_. She could see Joshamee Gibbs from her spot on the deck and for a moment she truly wished Jack had sent her to _the Veritas_ instead of keeping her on his ship. Now it was too late to go.

Of course she could just simply do it, but she knew deep in her heart that Jack would never forgive her that action. Simply, because he already had such a hard time with the whole 'trust' thing. She knew that when they had sailed on _the Dauntless_ to hunt after Barbossa, Jack had not really trusted her… he had trusted nobody that time. Now, slowly, the trust had come back, but she knew it would completely shatter if she would ask to be brought to _the Veritas _instead. So she stayed. And stared at Gibbs.

Josh Gibbs was for everyone on the ship a listening ear and a friend in need. If you had a problem you could always count on Gibbs. Always. And now she needed his presence and he wasn't here. That's what you call ironic.

Ana turned around and caught her eyes flying to Jack's cabin. She was dying to know what was happening behind that door. She really _needed_ to know, since her imagination could only come up with the worse scenarios.

One of them being Jack and _that_ girl deeply in love doing whatever you can do when in love and alone in a large cabin with an obvious comfortable bed. Not that Ana could speak from first hand experience on this issue.

Another one of her imaginations was Jack being commanded around by _that_ girl, doing whatever you do when under a spell as a charismatic pirate captain in a large cabin with an obvious comfortable bed.

Neither of these options sounded very appealing in Ana's ears.

For a moment the urge of stepping forward and throwing open that door to see with her own eyes what was going on was almost too hard to resist. But she hardly doubted if Jack, or that girl when she really was a witch, would appreciate that action very much.

With a sigh she turned away and left for her own cabin just to lie there awake for hours only able to think about what was going on in her captain's cabin at the moment.

---

Jack was rubbing his temples when he sat down on his bed. Life was starting to get rather complicated these days! He had started to notice how Ana spent more and more time along with the new crewmembers instead of the old. He also noticed how she had started to avoid looking him in the eyes or even speaking to him at all!

What on earth had he done wrong this time? And why didn't she just slap him and get over with it, like she always seems to solve problems between them?

Women!

Then he tiredly smiled at the girl in his bed. She hadn't left this place since she had come aboard, only to fall asleep in his arms every night. At least it seemed to stop her from having nightmares and Jack couldn't recall either the last time since he had slept so comfortable as with the girl in his arms, with her head tightly under his chin and one ear pressed to his chest.

"Good evenin', luv!" he whispered softly, not expecting a reply. She hadn't spoken a word since he had known her and he still didn't know her name. But he would find it out… soon. He opened his arms to let her settle against his chest and played a bit with her long brown hair.

"Ye know what, luv… I'm in all worries about me Ana. She never was like this b'fore." Jack didn't even know why he told the girl this, but he had been telling her about his worries and about his day in general since the second day she had crawled in his arms and made him feel loved.

"Should almost think she's under some sort of spell… seems te like the new crew more than the old as well…" Jack swallowed hard before allowing himself to speak out his worst thoughts. "'m afraid tha' she… tha' she wants te take over me ship… together with those new fellows." Then he added, as if he had to defend Ana, "I still own her a ship, ye know…"

The girl looked with big eyes and great interest at Jack, but he had no idea if she could actually understand him in the first place. Slowly she moved one hand up and stroked a bundle of hair out of his face, while he smiled at her.

"Yer not going to betray ol' Jack, are ye, luv?" he whispered in her hair.

"Jack?"

His name was spoken so softly that he at first wasn't even sure if the girl had spoken at all.

"Luv?"

The girl turned her attention back to him and then she said his name again, taken a deep breath as if it's something incredibly hard she was doing right now.

"'ello, luv!" Jack said happily. He finally seemed to be able to break down the last pieces from that wall she had built around her. "Can ye tell me yer name now, poppet?" he asked hopefully.

She seems to think a little before replying. "Cass," she said again so softly that Jack almost believed he was imagining things.

"Well… hello then Cass… Don' mind if I call ye Cassy then? Always seem te be doing tha'… Mind ye… Tried te call Ana 'Annie' once," he chuckled, "she didn't really like tha' name."

Cassy shook her head.

"Ye don't like talking much, do ye?"

Again she shook her head.

"Well, Cassy, luv… don' worries then… ol' Jack can talk fer two," and with that he pulled her in a tight hug, feeling good for the first time in days.

---

Jack still wasn't sure what to think of this new crew. He didn't think he liked them much and he was convinced he would change crews as soon as he could. The only person he thought would make a proper pirate was a large guy with thick black hair, who listened to the name of Jeff.

On this moment Jack eyed Ana uncomfortably, who was having a deep conversation with Michael, the guy he had first asked about Cassy's name. After one last glance at the two he turned to get back into his cabin, the only place he really felt comfortable these days. His eyes went over _the Veritas_ who sailed gracefully next to _the Pearl_ and for a moment he really wished Josh was back on his _Pearl._ The sky started to darken and it was soon going to be night. Suddenly Jack stopped and turned back to face various members of his crew.

"Ana!" he ordered. "Whose the night watch tonight?"

Ana looked up, to immediately look away again. "Edmund and Wilhelm."

"Aye. Edmund? Winning Will? Ye can go to sleep. You," he pointed at Michael, "and you," he pointed to another member of his new crew, "are going te be night watch instead."

"B-but…" Michael started to protest.   
  
"I'm the captain, mate. Ye and yer friend are going to keep a sharp eye t'night." And with that he turned to his cabin, trying his best to ignore the muttering behind his back.

The bad feeling disappeared as soon as he had closed the door behind him. He could almost feel Ana's eyes burn holes in them, but he simply didn't care. If she wanted to ignore him she could get it!

"Hello, Cassy," he said grinning at the girl, but then he frowned. Cassy was shivering all over her body and looking around apprehensively.

"Was wrong, luv? Bad dream?" Jack cursed himself. He should have been wiser and just gone back to his cabin! Then he would probably had been able to stop her from dreaming.

Cassy didn't seem to recognize him at all. Jack quickly sat down and pulled her against him, slowly rocking her back and forth and singing 'a pirates life for me' in her hair.

"Truth," Cassy whispered.

"What did ye say, luv?" Jack wasn't even sure if she had said 'truth' at all. Cassy threw both her arms around his neck and cried with her face in his neck, while Jack was rubbing her back and whispering silly words in her ear.

Very slowly she calmed down.

"Well, luv. Don't scare ol' Jack like that again, mind ye?" again he grinned at her and this time she slowly smiled back.  "Tha's my Cassy."

The cabin was completely dark now and Jack betted it was in the middle of the night. He had forgotten to put a candle on for the light, but he didn't think that mattered much. He knew _the Pearl_ like the back of his hand.

Then he frowned.

He heard something different. Something that was not the sea, or his beloved _Pearl_ or one of his men that couldn't sleep. He heard… cannon fire.

"Bloody hell!" he whispered, while he quickly jumped on his feet. "Stay here, Cassy, luv!" he said as he quickly made his way to the main deck.

---

_Well, I'm fresh out of the plane from my holiday (I want to go back!) and I can offer you this for now. Still have no idea where this story is going to lead, although I know what's going to happen in the next 2/3 chapters and then I'll see what the Muse says (Damn. Seriously need a name for my muse!)_

_Pendragginink - First of all: you have no idea how much your review cheered me up. My dog was very ill at that time and I was terribly worried about his health. Luckily he's doing better now! About your sleeping issue. You have a good point there, but I do believe that Jack would sleep alone in a cabin and so does Ana. I have my reasons for that last one, but I still have to type that story down sheepish grin. Be patient, it should be my next project_

_Lavender Wonder - YAY! Thank you for reviewing! I'm afraid I'm starting to rather like the jealous Ana and Daft Jack thing. Beware! ;)_

_Woman of the Dunedain - Clio! This is so weird. Especially to not call you Clio LOL I'm going to read some of yours as soon as I have time… Would have done it sooner, but the holidays got in the way _

_Kungfuchick - Still the 'thing'. I'm still not sure, although this probably should get you comforted when I say that Jack/Ana is my favorite paring :)_

_Pigwidgeon - Thanks for the luck and inspiration ;) I should get some stuff written this weekend so there should be more to any of my stories somewhere next week_

_Loraine - I had a great holiday. I really didn't want to leave! I didn't even miss my computer gasp Hope you like this!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Many thanks to Rachael for the beta-read!_

Chapter 4

Letting years of being a pirate speak for themselves Jack quickly overlooked the situation. It wasn't really a good one at the moment. The only good thing about the whole situation was that it was not _the Pearl_ that was under attack, but _the Veritas._

A large ship with ragged sails was attacking Gibbs' ship, a large ship that didn't look familiar to Jack at all. He doubted it belonged to the British Navy or the Spanish one and it wasn't a known pirate ship either. No pirate ship in her right mind would attack a ship that sailed next to _the Pearl._

Joshamee Gibbs had obviously been surprised by this attack as well and only now, way too late, the cannons on _the Veritas_ were ready to answer this attack. Behind Jack he heard somebody else come on deck and when he turned around he quickly spotted Anamaria and later Jeff and others from his original _Pearl_ crew. The newer members were nowhere in sight.

Hot anger suddenly burned in Jack's veins. He was _not_ going to watch one of his best friends die under his very own eyes!

"Load the cannons!" he roared. "Wake those lazy dogs! You!" Jack pointed to Jeff, "Go fetch your old buddies and make them work!"

Everybody obliged to Jack's commands, worries taken over. They knew their friends were in danger on the other ship and they would use all their power to help them. To Jack's despair he already saw a large damage to the hull of _the Veritas_ and the main mast was starting to hel dangerously.

"Come on you lazy scallywags!" he yelled, while running to one of the cannons himself. Quickly the first cannonballs were fired, but the unknown ship didn't seem to be bothered by that.

On that very moment Jack wanted to pull his hair out in frustration. He had never felt so helpless before! There was no way he could attack the unknown ship, since he couldn't come close enough to 'commandeer' the damned thing. He could hear Josh yell orders to his crew and he could hear the screams from them as well. He cringed when he recognized a voice of a man who was obviously badly wounded.

The air was filled with the sounds of cannons and thick smoke and Jack couldn't tell anymore who was shooting to whom.

"Have te get closer… ANA!" Jack roared. "Sail her closer to that damned ship."

For once Ana did not protest. She ran to the steering wheel of _the Pearl_ and started to move her closer to the damned ship. This time _the Pearl_ became under attack as well. One cannonball flew right into a spot where Jack had stood only seconds ago.

"Move her between the two ships!" he yelled to Ana, while he drew his cutlass and pistol. There was no way he was going to give up helping his friends now!

Gracefully as always _the Pearl_ sailed between the two ships, being obviously smaller than the damned ship, but way more determined than her bigger enemy. Jack got his spyglass, but he didn't notice anybody on the main deck of the ship. That was odd to say the least. Of course the cannons were below deck, but every captain would always leave a large group of men on the main deck to defend the ship from 'commandeering' pirates.

On the other side of _the Pearl_ he could hear a loud crash and _the Veritas_ had finally giving in, sinking with surprising quickness into Davy Jones Locker. Immediately Jack had forgotten all about the mysterious ship. Where was Josh? Where were his other loyal crewmembers? Jack cursed the moonlight, since he could only see vague shades in the water and he only had the screaming voices to guide him.

"Stop _the Pearl!_ Lower the anchor!" Jack didn't want to take the risk of killing one of his loyal crew with his ship.

The damned ship seemed to be satisfied and started to move away.

"Leave her be," yelled Jack when some of his crew starting to yell in hunger for revenge. "First our men!"

Several thick ropes were thrown into the water and soon the least damaged crewmembers were standing shivering on the main deck of _the Pearl._ But no Josh. And a lot more were still missed.

"Bloody pirates!" Jack cursed. He was now standing on the railing of his ship, one hand in the rigging, staring at the calm sea down below, trying to see any sign of life from surviving crew members. He could still hear some screaming so he still had hope.

Then his heart skipped a beat and without a thought of hesitation he dived into the water. Kicking back to the surface he could barely see the figure he had spotted only seconds earlier, but Jack always had been a good swimmer. Old Bootstrap Bill Turner had taken care of that.

Soon he pulled the man back to the surface of the water. It was Marty, the little dwarf who had proved to be off value, especially when it came down on stealing from ignorant ladies. He had an ugly bruise on his head, but was luckily still breathing.

"EY!" Jack called. "ANA!" But in the chaos of the situation nobody heard him. Jack quickly scanned the area and found a large piece of wood, last memory of _the Veritas, _and soon Marty was lying dry on the wood, while Jack looked around for more survivors.

His eyes found others from his crew swimming in the waters to find their old mates, Jeff being one of them.

Frankly, he looked around for a sign of Joshamee Gibbs. This could not be the end of this man! Josh Gibbs who could be a listening ear when you needed one or just a buddy to get extremely drunk with. He also was a very talented storyteller, although you always had to doubt the truth into these stories. And Josh always had this odd sort of luck that made him loved among all the members of the crew. It could not be so that Lady Luck finally had enough of him!

After making sure that Marty would not sink back into the dark ocean again, Jack started to swim around calling Josh's name now and then. He swam further and further away from _the Pearl_, ignoring his own tiredness. Then he heard it. Soft calling of his name.

"Josh?"

Loud coughing was heard followed by his name.

"Josh! Keep calling mate!" Soon he had found him. Josh was at the end of his powers and Jack quickly found some large bruises and other injuries that didn't look too nice. Like a real captain he had been the last one to leave his ship.

"Come, Josh," Jack said softly. "I'll get ye back to me _Pearl, _mate, no worries."

Josh did not reply, starting to doze off into unconsciousness. Not wanting to let his worry take over, Jack slowly started to swim back to _the Pearl_ being the last one left in the water. Others came to help him as soon as he was spotted and later all were back on _the Pearl._

With more than a little pride, Jack noticed that Ana had handled the situation well. The beds of the crew were moved to the open air and all the wounded sailors were lying now next to each other to give each other warmth, down below. Marty was there as well, his head already firmly bandaged. Edmund, the pirate who knew most about wounds and such, was taking care of the wounded sailors helped by, once again, Jeff.

"Ed!" Jack called when he carefully let the now fully unconscious Gibbs to a bed. When Edmund noticed the bad looking Josh he came as quickly as he could, leaving Jeff to take care of the others. He frowned when he saw the state of the former first-mate. Then he eyed his captain.

"Cap?" he said softly.  
  
"Aye, mate?"

"I'm not sure if I will be able to help him…"

Jack stayed silent.

"But I'll try of course."

"Know that, mate. No worries."

"And Cap? Ye should take some rest yerself…"

This time Jack stubbornly shook his head. "No mate. Have to stay with me friend fer a lil while. And when the sunrises… let's say I have some eggs to break then."

Edmund smiled at his captain. "Aye, cap." Then he started to take care of Josh' bruises, while Jack sat down next to him, silently observing his movements. He just could not leave Josh alone like that. He remembered many many years ago, when he had only been an innocent lad that somehow had managed to become pirate captain; that their positions had been the other way round. He had been the one who was shot and badly wounded, and Josh had been the one who sat next to his bed all night long. Later he had told him that Josh hadn't wanted him to wake up all on his onesies and Jack had loved the man for it. Now he wanted to return the favour, even though other wounded mates surrounded Josh.

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_Sorry mateys, for the long wait! Had a bit of trouble with my study and such :$_

_Pigwidgeon - LOL! Thank you… I guess it will stay a bit confusing a lil longer, but it hopefully will change_

_Lavender Wonder - You said you wanted action… well… here it is!_

_JackFan2 - I have so much fun writing the Jealous!Jack/Ana bits that I think I won't be able to stop myself in the near future_

_Kungfuchick - I'm happy the girl has a name now, it's way easier too write. She will be back in the next chapter_

_Loraine - You will find out much more about Cassy in the future._


End file.
